First Words
by TL-chan
Summary: Hotarla has finally started talking, and Sparkle is excited to show off to everyone.
1. Hotarla vs Hunter

AN: This is set post series. But, not too far into the future. It's really just snippets of mindless fluff, so you have been warned if you were expecting deep substance. Also, thanks to Jeenalight for helping me come up with ideas and edit this.

 **1- Hotarla vs. Hunter**

Walking on tiptoes one early morning, through the corridors of Arachna Castle, Sparkle stopped in front of the door to Hunter's room. Although most of the doors were closed, his was cracked open slightly. Convenient.

Sparkle turned her head to the miniature spider waiting behind her. Well, Hotarla had actually grown a bit since the war's end, but she was still small compared to the rest of the spiders which inhabited the castle.

"Shh…" whispered the princess. "Don't make a sound, yet." Despite her words of caution, the girl was grinning, her head filled with visions of what was in store.

Once she peered through the open door, Sparkle could confirm that Hunter was still sleeping. Not that this was surprising. He typically wasn't an early riser, unless he had a good reason to get up. And reasons to be overly prepared were in short lately. Even Igneous had loosened up a little.

Carefully, Sparkle opened Hunter's door all the way, and signaled to Hotarla to follow her inside.

Sparkle bent down to the spider's level, doing her best to whisper even softer than before. "Okay now, Hotarla. We're going to surprise Hunter. Wake him up, just like we planned."

On cue, the spider bounced up, propelling herself onto the boy's bed. It was like a beast pouncing on its prey, only the beast this time was of the cute and fairly harmless variety.

Left and right, the spider hopped around over the unsuspecting Rider's head. Sure enough, he was awakened, and sure enough, he was not expecting his first sight to be the underbelly of a hyperactive dancing spider. He was too stunned to even scream.

"Good morning, Hunter!" a high-pitched voice echoed from above.

"Good morning… Hotarla…" he replied, his body twitching. "That was you, right?" he mumbled.

"Mhm! It was me," the spider answered.

"I see," answered Hunter. He wanted to be polite, especially knowing the spider he was dealing with was only a kid. But still, it was too odd a situation for his mind to fully wrap around. "What are you doing?"

"Talking! I'm talking!" the spider exclaimed, her many eyes aglow.

"Yeah…" replied Hunter, skeptical.

"Hunter, do you not understand the problem here?" It was Shadow's voice, echoing out from the boy's manacle. He may not have physically seen the situation, but he could still hear it perfectly well.

"Problem?" Hunter glanced around the room, or as much of it as he could see laying down and with his vision obstructed by spider legs. He could at least make out Sparkle's figure near the doorway, and she looked to be giggling profusely. She was so caught up in her amusement that she hadn't managed to say anything to Hunter yet.

"Let me spell it out for you," Shadow answered, sounding exasperated already. "Hotarla. Doesn't. Talk."

Hunter's mouth hung open, as he suddenly understood.

"You're right. I've never heard her talk before. Not in real words, anyway."

"Now I do! Now I do!" she answered.

"That's right," replied Sparkle. "And, Hotarla, maybe you should come down now." Much as the situation amused her, she was still concerned for Hunter, who was likely in quite a bit of physical discomfort.

"Okay," Hotarla said, and jumped off onto the floor. "Down!"

"Thank you," replied Hunter. "Sincerely." He sat up in the bed, trying to mask his pain with a smile. Though, he didn't feel like getting out from under the covers quite yet. "You know, this is actually pretty cool, Sparkle!"

"I know," replied the girl, who was smiling triumphantly. "I really wanted to surprise you. We both did."

"We did!" Hotarla chimed in.

"Well it worked," Hunter replied.

"Says the one who was too oblivious to notice," Shadow commented.

"Well… I was too surprised to notice!" Hunter shot back in defense. "And stifled." He shook his head. "But anyway, Sparkle, Hotarla, when did this start?"

"Yesterday!" Sparkle and Hotarla both answered in unison.

"It's about time," Hunter replied. "I mean, it was cute and all when she always said 'kyu kyu', but this is more normal."

"Actually, Hunter, I think she's pretty advanced for a spider," Shadow said. "At her age, they don't tend to talk like this."

"Oh! I didn't know," he answered. It was actually rather fascinating to Hunter.

"Hotarla is advanced?!" Sparkle exclaimed. "This is great!"

"It's great!" echoed Hotarla.

"And now, you two are the first to know the surprise," Sparkle added.

"It's an honor," Hunter said. "But I thought you would want to tell Lumen before me."

"I'll tell him," Sparkle replied. "But he's a lot harder to wake up."

"And we like you!" Hotarla added. "We do!"

Sparkle smiled.

"That's right, Hotarla."


	2. Hotarla vs Lumen and Igneous

**2- Hotarla vs. Lumen and Igneous**

"Oh Sparkle…" He was quite possibly being over dramatic, but Lumen actually looked teary. "You had such wonderful news, and you told Hunter before your own brother?"

"Prince!" Igneous didn't mean to raise his voice, and he had been trying to listen to Lumen's concerns with an open mind. But… it was simply getting difficult. He felt he needed to hurry and quell the situation before it escalated. There was always a bit of friction between Lumen and Hunter as it was. "I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you," he continued, more calmly. "Sparkle isn't that kind of person. Perhaps you wouldn't have been the second to find out if you tried to be more attentive. Sleeping in every day is not a wise practice to keep."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but…" Lumen rubbed a sleeve to his eyes to dry them.

"Brother!"

"Lumen!"

Both Sparkle and Hotarla were running as fast as their small legs could take them, towards the two boys who stood on the training grounds outside the castle.

"Why did you run off? We wanted to talk some more!" called Sparkle, as she got closer to a clear hearing range.

"We did! We love talking!" Hotarla added.

"Oh. Well…" Lumen no longer looked like he was crying, but his expression was plainly a depressed one. "Sorry, I guess," he continued awkwardly.

"Oh, Igneous, you're out here too?" Sparkle questioned. Not that it was too much of a surprise.

"Yes," the taller boy replied. "Lumen told me about what happened. All of it. I'm very impressed by how far Hotarla has come."

"He nearly fainted when he found out," Lumen added.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Sparkle. She quickly studied Igneous' face, but he looked alright to her now, at least.

"It's true!" shouted Hotarla. "I can talk! Like all of you!"

"Well, I guess it's natural for a royal spider to be advanced," Lumen spoke. "But I wish you would have told me right away."

"I'm sorry," Sparkle replied. And she did mean it, but what was done was done.

"We're sorry," Hotarla added in.

"Hotarla isn't advanced because she's a royal spider."

A light emitted from Lumen's manacle, and Ebony popped out in the center of the group. Both Igneous and Lumen stepped back in shock. There were some things one could never get used to.

"Ebony!" Hotarla exclaimed. Of course, a new target to chat with was exciting to her.

"Lumen… I could speak by the time we were partners. But I couldn't when I was Hotarla's age. She may be a truly special spider."

"Oh wow! Did you hear that, Hotarla?!" shouted Sparkle.

"I'm special!" Hotarla cheered. "I'm special! Right, Ebony?"

"It's only a theory." With those last words, Ebony retracted himself back into the manacle.

"I do have to agree with Ebony's theory," Igneous spoke up. "Hotarla does seem special to me."

"You may be right," Lumen replied. "Lucky Sparkle. But as for you, Igneous, you have a full grown spider that doesn't speak a word."

"Uh… hey!" Igneous was taken aback, not sure whether to be offended. For his sake and for Flame's. "Flame may be silent, but he's not someone to take lightly. He's incredibly powerful."

"But not as strong as Ebony," Lumen pointed out, smirking. There wasn't any indication he'd just been sulking. "And not as advanced as Hotarla, either."

"Hey! I want to talk to Flame!" Hotarla called out.

"I don't think that's possible," replied Lumen.

"I want to talk to Flame!" repeated Hotarla. She was bouncing around now, seeming totally fixated on that prospect, no matter how doable it was.

"We could try," said Sparkle. "Igneous, why don't you release Flame from the manacle?"

"Well, I guess I can do that much," Igneous said. "Okay! Flame, spider out!"

Unlike Ebony, who could pop out from manacle space at will, Flame required the usual command.

The bulky dark-colored spider stood statue-still in their circle. His gaze was probably fixated on Hotarla, who stood immediately in front of him, but it was hard for anyone to tell for sure what was on his mind.

"Flame! Flame! Flame!" Hotarla began to frantically call his name. Unsurprisingly to the rest of them, she received no answer.

"See?" Lumen asked.

"Flame!"

Hotarla began to poke at his head with her front legs. All the while, the large spider remained unflinching.

"Igneous, have you really never heard Flame talk?" Sparkle's face looked rather disheartened all of a sudden as she spoke.

"No I haven't," Igneous said. The knight approached Sparkle. Was she worried for his sake? That was how it seemed to him, and it was rather a touching gesture, even if it wasn't necessary. He reached out his hand, patting her head. "I'd like to see Flame talk for real, but he and I understand each other perfectly already. We don't need to talk through words."

"Look!"

Hotarla's leg was pointed towards Flame, who was nodding his head in reply.


	3. Hotarla vs Aqune and Buguese

**3- Hotarla vs. Aqune and Buguese**

With the previous incident over with, Sparkle made her way back towards the castle, with Hotarla hurrying to keep up. But along the way, she was stopped in her tracks by an unexpected sight. Hotarla hadn't noticed yet what her Rider saw, but she did appreciate the chance to get closer.

"Sparkle! Wait for me!" the bounding spider yelled to a deaf ear.

"Aqune!" Any opportunity to see the seventh Rider was not to be missed, as far as Sparkle was concerned. She dashed to the girl, hugging her legs because she couldn't reach too much higher.

"Hello. It's nice to see you too," Aqune replied, smiling.

"I didn't know you were coming over!" Sparkle shouted. She decided to let go of the other girl at this point, but she still couldn't hide the excitement on her face.

"Actually, it wasn't something I planned. We were in the area, and I thought it would be a nice surprise," Aqune answered.

"We?" Sparkle looked puzzled, until she noticed who was trying to obscure himself a short distance behind Aqune. He was frowning, probably something he did perpetually, and had no interest in acknowledging the young girl if she hadn't noticed his presence first.

"Uncle Buggy!" Sparkle exclaimed, and she ran up to hug his legs next.

After snapping off the momentary shock, Buguese gently pried her off of him.

"I asked you not to call me that," he muttered. There was no sense yelling at a child, but he very much wanted to.

Meanwhile, Aqune had a hand over her mouth, and was trying not to laugh, at least not too loudly.

"Aww…" Sparkle looked up at the man in disappointment. "But… you are Uncle Buggy to me!" She glanced over at Aqune. "Do you think I should start calling you Auntie Aqune, since he's your boyfriend?"

"Uh… that sounds a little weird," Aqune replied. "I don't think I'm old enough to be your aunt… although I'm not sure how old I even am." She looked to be a bit embarrassed.

"Auntie Aqune! Auntie Aqune!" Hotarla chanted, as she started to dance around in front of the girl. Now, she was clearly flustered.

"Oh! I wanted to tell you!" yelled Sparkle. "Hotarla can talk!"

"Y-you're right," Aqune answered. She tried to avert her gaze from the spider to the princess. It certainly made keeping composed easier anyway. "That's wonderful news!"

"Uncle Buggy! Hello!" Hotarla had quickly found herself a new target. Buguese simply backed away, though he was certainly tempted to kick the spider.

"Hotarla, why don't you play with Portia," Aqune suggested, hoping to prevent any violence.

"Okay," said Hotarla.

"Spider out!"

Once the purple spider appeared, Hotarla immediately crawled up to her.

"It's Auntie Portia!" At the very least, the spider didn't seem to care what she was called.

"You know, Sparkle," Aqune spoke up. "I think it's really great to be able to talk with your spider. At least, I always found it comforting to have Portia. But… I didn't even realize that Hotarla couldn't speak in our language before."

"Could Portia always talk to you?" Sparkle wondered.

"As far as I can remember," Aqune replied. "I guess that's why I assumed it was like that for all spiders."

"Well, you haven't known too many other spiders, have you?" Sparkle said. She actually seemed a bit worried for the older girl. "Aqune, I hope you know you can come over here any time and talk to all the spiders. And me too."

"Me too!" Hotarla added, not that it was necessary when she would have been counted under 'all the spiders'.

"I know," Aqune replied. "I'm glad to hear that."

"I like you," Sparkle said. "So I hope we can be friends for a long time. You and me really like the Insectors. Sometimes my brother and the others say mean things about them, but I know you would stand up for them." She looked fiercely determined.

"Of course," said Aqune. "Everyone in the Inner World should be valued equally."

"We like Insectors!" Hotarla cheered.

"Yep. Especially Uncle Hop," Sparkle added.

"I can't imagine what there is to like about that imbecile," Buguese responded, disgusted by just the mention of his name.

"Buguese!" Aqune called, holding her hand in front of his face as a signal not to say anymore. "Grasshop is Sparkle's friend."

"Aren't Uncle Buggy and Uncle Hop friends too?" Sparkle asked.

"Friends! Friends!" shouted Hotarla.

Aqune was the only thing preventing Buguese from throwing a fit over the disgusting insinuations. The girl stood on tiptoes, so she could whisper into his ear.

"To be honest, I don't really love hanging out with Grasshop either."

Seeming much more content, Buguese whispered something back to her.

"Hotarla, what do you think they're talking about?" asked Sparkle.

"Uncle Hop?" Hotarla replied.

"I think so too," said Sparkle. "I know! Maybe we can go back to the Insector world with Aqune later, and surprise Uncle Hop too!"


	4. Hotarla vs Corona and Magma

**4- Hotarla vs. Corona and Magma**

"Hey Hotarla, let's go inside now," Sparkle suggested. "Don't forget, we still have more people to surprise."

"Okay, Sparkle," Hotarla answered.

Aqune had gone over to chat with Lumen and Igneous, so their entertainment had disappeared anyway.

"So, there's still Corona and Magma," the princess thought out loud once they had gotten indoors. "Of course Lily and Grey and the other soldiers, but… the Spider Riders should hear it first! Now where might they be?"

"Look!" Hotarla's leg was pointed towards the kitchen area, where a cloud of ominous black smoke was filtering out.

From the cloud emerged a coughing Corona, a few seconds later.

"Sparkle!" the girl exclaimed, rather startled to learn she had an audience. "I'm so sorry. Wait while I clean this up a little."

"It should be okay," Sparkle replied. She squinted at the smoke, which seemed to be dissipating just a little. "At least I think it is."

"I guess I won't be perfecting that pancake recipe today," Corona said with a sigh. "I would have loved to have you taste test it when it was ready."

"Maybe you should ask Aqune for help," Sparkle suggested. She wouldn't say so out loud, but she was glad she didn't have to taste what Corona was making now.

"Aqune is here!" Hotarla shouted. "Aqune is a good cook!"

"Aqune is here?!" Corona yelled, a little more loudly than necessary. She took a deep breath to catch herself. "I guess I could ask her. W-wait!"

Hit with a sudden realization, Corona was gaping and pointing at the little yellow spider. "Hotarla, you can talk?"

"I can talk!" Hotarla answered.

"Well, I guess she could always talk, but she only said 'Kyu.' Uh… never mind that. Sparkle, when did this happen?"

"Yesterday," she answered.

"We told everyone!" Hotarla added.

"Actually, Magma and Brutus don't know," Sparkle corrected. "But isn't this great?"

"Yeah," Corona said. "It's a bit startling, but I'm really happy for you two. And Hotarla sounds so cute!"

"I'm cute?" Hotarla asked.

"Yes!" Corona looked enthralled to hear her speak again. It was almost a bit creepy. "If only I had a spider that cute. That squeaky voice, those beady eyes…"

"But you have Venus," Sparkle replied. "Are you saying you want to trade? It might be fun for a while, but only if it's not for too long."

"Huh?" Corona tilted her head. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Okay, good," Sparkle said. "Because I don't think I could give Hotarla up. Especially not on such a special day."

"Oh man, what is that awful smell?" Holding his nose, Magma wandered into the area outside the kitchen.

"Sorry," Corona answered, embarrassed. "I was making pancakes."

"I never knew pancakes could be such a dangerous weapon," replied Magma. "Too bad we didn't have them when we were fighting the Insectors. They would've been done for before they knew what hit them."

"That's not very nice," Sparkle said. "Corona is trying hard."

"Well… he kind of has a point," Corona admitted. She didn't think her cooking was all that horrible, but even she had to consent this time when it was such an obvious disaster.

"Alright," Sparkle agreed, noticing the smoke was still mostly present. "Anyway, we have news for you, Magma!"

"Oh?" Magma stared down at her curiously.

"Hotarla can talk now!" she answered.

"I can talk!" Hotarla reaffirmed. "Talk! Talk! Talk!"

"Well, sounds to me like you can echo pretty well," Magma answered. "I have to admit, that's a pretty cool improvement. But can you _really_ talk?"

"What do you mean?" Sparkle asked.

"Like a grown-up, I mean," answered Magma. "It's not official until she can have actual conversations. And use big words."

Hotarla's eyes shifted, like she was kind of insulted.

"I can talk!" she answered. "I can have con-ver-conver-con…"

"Conversations," Sparkle said. "Can't you say that, Hotarla?"

"Conver… con…"

"Well, she's still a beginner," Sparkle said, even though she was disappointed.

"I understand that," Magma said. "But hey, let me know when she can really talk."

"We will!" Sparkle asserted. "Just you wait! Right, Hotarla?"

"Right! Right!"

But when Sparkle turned to Hotarla, she noticed something odd. Corona was rushing off suddenly.

"Where could she be going?" Sparkle wondered.


	5. Hotarla vs Vocabulary

**5- Hotarla vs. Vocabulary**

Sparkle and Hotarla sat alone together on a couch in the living room. Both of them looked kind of down.

"Oh Hotarla, it doesn't matter if you can't say big words yet, does it?" The girl patted her spider on the back, partially to comfort herself.

"But I want to. I want to say big words."

"I know," Sparkle replied. She sighed. "Well, never give up, right? Say 'conversation.'"

"Con-coversa-"

"Hey Sparkle!"

"Hunter? What's going on?"

Bother Hunter and Corona ran in, and plopped themselves down on a couch as well.

"We want to help teach Hotarla big words," Corona said.

"Yeah," Hunter replied. "I think Corona came to see me, because my spider is the biggest loud-mouth in the Inner World. Spend some extra time with Shadow, and you'll be able to say anything, Hotarla."

"No!" the spider objected loudly. "She came specifically for Hunter, the only human without the common sense to know when to stop running his mouth."

"I think that the both of you can help," Corona replied. It was hard to resist rolling her eyes.

"Okay," Sparkle said. "We'd be really grateful to have help from anyone."

"Sa-tion… Conver…" Hotarla continued practicing, paying no mind to Hunter and Shadow's bickering.

"You're trying to say 'conversation?'" Shadow asked.

"Yes," Hotarla replied.

"That's too easy!" exclaimed Hunter. "Listen, Corona filled me in on what happened, and if you really want to impress Magma, you have to learn bigger words. Something like antidisestablishmentarianism. Or supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. "

"What?!" Corona was already having a hard time comprehending.

"They're really big words that come from my world," Hunter replied, proudly. "To be honest, I don't even know what the first one means… or the second one, but that's from a movie. I don't think it's supposed to mean anything."

"But… doesn't every word mean something?" Corona wondered. "Well, I'm not sure I could even say words like that."

"Super! Super-cal-super!" Hotarla, however, had already gotten to work practicing.

"Hotarla, let's try saying it slowly," Hunter interrupted. "Repeat after me. Super…"

"Super!"

"Cali…"

"Cali!"

… They continued bit by bit.

"Still, saying the whole thing at once is going to be a bit tougher," Shadow stated. "I mean, supercali fraggle-licious exposition… I can't even remember!"

Hunter proceeded to burst out laughing.

"Shadow, you're not even close."

"I'm not sure if I should be proud or concerned that you can remember things like that," replied the spider.

"I know Hotarla can do it!" Sparkle declared. "You said it yourself, Shadow. She's an advanced spider."

"Right! I'm advanced!" Hotarla echoed. "I can have conversations!"

Sparkle was beaming.

"Now that's the spirit," said Hunter. "Never give up and it will be alright."

* * *

A short while later, Corona gathered Magma, Lumen, Igneous, Aqune and even Buguese into the living room, where the others were waiting.

"So, what's going on?" Magma asked. He was the last to be brought in.

"We accepted your challenge," Sparkle said. The girl wore a devious smile.

"You mean about Hotarla?" Magma asked. He didn't know what else she could be referring to, though. "Okay, this I have to see."

"Hotarla, are you ready?" asked Hunter.

"Yes," she said.

Even spiders could get a bit of stage fright. And thus, there was silence for a moment. But finally, Hotarla's squeaky voice broke through.

"Hello. My name is Hotarla. And my favorite word is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, followed by antidisestablishmentarianism."

Even once she'd finished, all of Hotarla's eight legs were shaking.

"You did it!" Sparkle cheered, jumping up in the air in excitement.

"I… I did?" Hotarla asked.

"I suppose you did," Magma answered, a shocked look on his face. "But, I figure that was rehearsed. Do you even know what that all means?"

"Maybe not," Sparkle said. "But could you say all that?"

Magma puffed up his chest. It wasn't in him to shy out of a challenge.

"As a matter of fact…" Then, there was silence. "No." He looked down, disappointed. "I can't even remember what you said."

Hotarla took a deep breath.

"I said, 'Hello. My name is Hotarla. And my favorite word is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, followed by antidisestablishmentarianism.'"

"You really didn't have to repeat that," Magma sighed.

However, Magma graciously admitted his defeat. And from that day on, Hotarla continued practicing with Hunter and Shadow, learning as many new words as possible. She would strike up conversations with anyone she could find, and talk their heads off for hours on end.

-The end-


End file.
